1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally drawn to door mats having message or pictures therein and more particularly to such mats which provide different messages or pictures when viewed from the entrance or exit side of the mat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Floor mats are known which have pictures, logos or writing thereon. Examples of such mats are seen in U.S. Pat. No. DES. 200,152 and U.S. Pat. No. DES. 350,253. The messages include writings such as "welcome" and have surface textures varying from thick mat to slight corrugations. However, none of these mats provide one message when viewing the mat from its entrance side and a second message when viewing the mat from the exit side with the non-viewed message being hidden from view.
Door mats are also known which which have triangular, spiked and truncated triangular surfaces. Examples of such mats are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 385,044; U.S. Pat. No. DES. 187, 639; U.S. Pat. No. DES. 105,428; and U.S. Pat. No. DES. 310,460. None of these mats, however, have any teaching of how messages may be placed on such surfaces let alone how differing entrance and exit messages may be placed thereon which will allow only one message to be read while hiding the other message when viewing the mat from either the entrance or exit side.
Signs and carpets are also known which display different images or messages depending upon the angle of view of the sign or the mat angle of the carpet. Examples of such arc soon in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,380 dealing with signs and U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,616 dealing with carpets. However, there is no teaching in either patent how a door mat may be designed to have different entrance and exit messages with variable distances of view which is needed in a welcome mat.
The sign patent has triangles of equal inclanation on which different messages are printed. Thus the differing messages would be visible from the same distances from the sides of the sign. This is unsuitable for a mat. The carpet dopends on the stroked inclanation of the carpet fibers to display different pictures. Again this is unsuitable for a mat.
Thus what was needed was a door mat having an entrance message viewable from a first distance away from the mat entrance side while hiding the mat's exit message and an exit message different from the entrance message which is viewable from a second shorter distance facing the exit side of the mat while hiding the entrance message.